You did have too much time and not a single shot directly matching the assignment with the sun directly behind the leaf?
The nice thing about photography is it is a creative art open to interpretation. We may not have taken exactly the pictures you wanted, but there are some reasonable images in the thread.
On the other hand you are trying to get us to understand the issues of taking a picture into the sun. We chose to work around that issue by using fill flash or framing the picture so the leaves are backlit without pointing the camera directly into the sun. There are other ways to work around the issue, like allowing the sky to be completely blown out so we get decent exposure on the leaves or maybe a cutout filter to tone down the sun and show the leave. I think we understand the issue and did a pretty good job of understanding what needs to be done to take a good image.
Having said all that, I'd like to have a try at a backlit leave with the sun behind the leave and NO fill flash, but it is snowing at the moment. :cry
The word "directly" is in neither the assignment title nor the description.
To avoid lens flare, I did the same as most everyone else and placed the sun behind and slightly to one side. I did add some fill flash (and curves) to preserve detail in the shadows, but all three images are backlit by the sun, and each bunch of leaves contains at least one leaf is not backlit and shows direct reflection from the sun.
As an example, please study the bottom leaf in my third post. You'll see three things: 1) backlighting on the lower right edge 2) direct reflection on top and 3) also on top, shadows on the camera side of the veins.
So there.
Hey, if it's not directly behind (i.e. blocked by the leaf), then technically it's not "behind", is more "on the side" ;-P
The nice thing about photography is it is a creative art open to interpretation. We may not have taken exactly the pictures you wanted, but there are some reasonable images in the thread.
On the other hand you are trying to get us to understand the issues of taking a picture into the sun. We chose to work around that issue by using fill flash or framing the picture so the leaves are backlit without pointing the camera directly into the sun. There are other ways to work around the issue, like allowing the sky to be completely blown out so we get decent exposure on the leaves or maybe a cutout filter to tone down the sun and show the leave. I think we understand the issue and did a pretty good job of understanding what needs to be done to take a good image.
Having said all that, I'd like to have a try at a backlit leave with the sun behind the leave and NO fill flash, but it is snowing at the moment. :cry
Creativity is surely good and is often encouraged. However, these are kinda school tasks. You, like a "school" in figure skating. You have to be able to do the straight, the backup, the "eight", etc. Only then you're allowed to enter the primary competition where your *art* can be judged - subjectively, as always with the art.
So, yes, we're a bit on a specific/"do exactly as you were told"/anal side of things here. It's a Class, not DSS (although, sometimes they intersect, like right now :-), so your freedom of interpretation is greatly diminished here.
And the snow should give you a great leg for the #103
Happy New Year!
Hey, if it's not directly behind (i.e. blocked by the leaf), then technically it's not "behind", is more "on the side" ;-P
But regardless of semantics, I did, indeed, get the leaves backlit - enough - to show their texture.
Thank you very much for the assignments, Nikolai. You keep us thinking and improving our skills with them. And even if I fail at one, I still enjoyed doing it.
"If you've found a magic that does something for you, honey, stick to it. Never change it." - Mae West, to Edith Head.
"Every guy has to have one weakness - and it might as well be a good one." - Shell Scott: Dance With the Dead by Richard S. Prather
But regardless of semantics, I did, indeed, get the leaves backlit - enough - to show their texture.
Thank you very much for the assignments, Nikolai. You keep us thinking and improving our skills with them. And even if I fail at one, I still enjoyed doing it.
Share shooting information?
Nikolai - the assignments are perfect for a new "shooter" like me - they give me a structure and a focus to my efforts. However, I'm so new at this that any success I have often seems to have occurred quite by accident (I'm like the proverbial chimpanzee who MIGHT strike the opening chords of Beethoven's Fifth if I sat at the keyboard for a century). For that reason, I'd love to know how others reached the results they display -- like those spectacular back-lit leaf shots of Pathfinder's -- so I could try to duplicate their efforts. Any chance people would describe the photo essentials: camera/lens, shutter sp/aperture/ post-processing, etc. so others could learn a bit more?
You know what I'm talking about: that chilly crisp winter morning, low-hanging sun, one of the last leaves still grasping the dried up branch. At any rate, unless you're in a total desert or behind of one of the Polar Circles, you gotta have all three important ingredients: some sort of leaf to fill your frame with, an unobstructed sun to provide the back-lighting, and the camera to capture this whole thing.
Fresh pictures only, moderate PP (b/w or duotone is OK), multiple entries OK if they are substantially different. Let's get some sun-back-lit leaves!
I'm very new to this (I just discovered this assignments few days ago) and to photography too.
First I'd like to say: Happy New Year to you and everybody here in this forum.
I didn't think I'll have an image for this assignment since, like other said, there are no more
leaves left on the trees at this time at least here North.
However, I just saw this morning a very nice light on a small house plant I have and thought
to take a backlit photo of those leaves...
How does is look - I forgot to put the flash on though
I'm very new to this (I just discovered this assignments few days ago) and to photography too.
First I'd like to say: Happy New Year to you and everybody here in this forum.
I didn't think I'll have an image for this assignment since, like other said, there are no more
leaves left on the trees at this time at least here North.
However, I just saw this morning a very nice light on a small house plant I have and thought
to take a backlit photo of those leaves...
How does is look - I forgot to put the flash on though
Thank you and all the best,
Tatiana,
thank you for your entry , welcome to the Class!
Well I figured since there are zero leaves here that I would find one that I had already shot and this is one I had! I will try to get a better one when the leaves return!
"If you've found a magic that does something for you, honey, stick to it. Never change it." - Mae West, to Edith Head.
"Every guy has to have one weakness - and it might as well be a good one." - Shell Scott: Dance With the Dead by Richard S. Prather
"If you've found a magic that does something for you, honey, stick to it. Never change it." - Mae West, to Edith Head.
"Every guy has to have one weakness - and it might as well be a good one." - Shell Scott: Dance With the Dead by Richard S. Prather
sapphire73Registered Users, Super ModeratorsPosts: 1,976moderator
edited April 26, 2009
The spring leaves are still rather small in the Philly area, but this one may work for this assignment. If so, which background do you prefer? Thank you for your helpful input.
I look forward to coming back to this idea in the autumn. Some lovely photographs in this thread!
The spring leaves are still rather small in the Philly area, but this one may work for this assignment. If so, which background do you prefer? Thank you for your helpful input.
I look forward to coming back to this idea in the autumn. Some lovely photographs in this thread!
I like the first one a lot! great entry (albeit a bit soft)
In the future, please try to limit your entries to one picture (unless they are totally different). Being your own worst ctitique helps in many ways...
"May the f/stop be with you!"
0
sapphire73Registered Users, Super ModeratorsPosts: 1,976moderator
I like the first one a lot! great entry (albeit a bit soft)
In the future, please try to limit your entries to one picture (unless they are totally different). Being your own worst ctitique helps in many ways...
actually, sun was right behind, trying to get a flare but it was too soft in the evening. so it's not so much overexposure as the fact that the background is ...the sun.
Comments
The nice thing about photography is it is a creative art open to interpretation. We may not have taken exactly the pictures you wanted, but there are some reasonable images in the thread.
On the other hand you are trying to get us to understand the issues of taking a picture into the sun. We chose to work around that issue by using fill flash or framing the picture so the leaves are backlit without pointing the camera directly into the sun. There are other ways to work around the issue, like allowing the sky to be completely blown out so we get decent exposure on the leaves or maybe a cutout filter to tone down the sun and show the leave. I think we understand the issue and did a pretty good job of understanding what needs to be done to take a good image.
Having said all that, I'd like to have a try at a backlit leave with the sun behind the leave and NO fill flash, but it is snowing at the moment. :cry
Hey, if it's not directly behind (i.e. blocked by the leaf), then technically it's not "behind", is more "on the side" ;-P
Creativity is surely good and is often encouraged. However, these are kinda school tasks. You, like a "school" in figure skating. You have to be able to do the straight, the backup, the "eight", etc. Only then you're allowed to enter the primary competition where your *art* can be judged - subjectively, as always with the art.
So, yes, we're a bit on a specific/"do exactly as you were told"/anal side of things here. It's a Class, not DSS (although, sometimes they intersect, like right now
And the snow should give you a great leg for the #103
Happy New Year!
But regardless of semantics, I did, indeed, get the leaves backlit - enough - to show their texture.
Thank you very much for the assignments, Nikolai. You keep us thinking and improving our skills with them. And even if I fail at one, I still enjoyed doing it.
You make learning fun, Nikolai. Here's to you!
Happy New Year!
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"If you've found a magic that does something for you, honey, stick to it. Never change it." - Mae West, to Edith Head.
"Every guy has to have one weakness - and it might as well be a good one." - Shell Scott: Dance With the Dead by Richard S. Prather
Hapyy New Year to you, Sir Lee!
Nikolai - the assignments are perfect for a new "shooter" like me - they give me a structure and a focus to my efforts. However, I'm so new at this that any success I have often seems to have occurred quite by accident (I'm like the proverbial chimpanzee who MIGHT strike the opening chords of Beethoven's Fifth if I sat at the keyboard for a century). For that reason, I'd love to know how others reached the results they display -- like those spectacular back-lit leaf shots of Pathfinder's -- so I could try to duplicate their efforts. Any chance people would describe the photo essentials: camera/lens, shutter sp/aperture/ post-processing, etc. so others could learn a bit more?
Hi Nicolai,
I'm very new to this (I just discovered this assignments few days ago) and to photography too.
First I'd like to say: Happy New Year to you and everybody here in this forum.
I didn't think I'll have an image for this assignment since, like other said, there are no more
leaves left on the trees at this time at least here North.
However, I just saw this morning a very nice light on a small house plant I have and thought
to take a backlit photo of those leaves...
How does is look - I forgot to put the flash on though
Thank you and all the best,
TravelwaysPhotos.com ...... Facebook
VegasGreatAttractions.com
Travelways.com
thank you for your entry
Thank you Nicolai,
I'm soooo happy to have discovered this :ivar
TravelwaysPhotos.com ...... Facebook
VegasGreatAttractions.com
Travelways.com
Plenty of green on the inside. So I played.
http://snowcatcher.smugmug.com/
Thank you, nice entries!
http://snowcatcher.smugmug.com/
Ya knew I wouldn't give up, right Nikolai?
__________________
My SmugMug Gallery
My Facebook
"If you've found a magic that does something for you, honey, stick to it. Never change it." - Mae West, to Edith Head.
"Every guy has to have one weakness - and it might as well be a good one." - Shell Scott: Dance With the Dead by Richard S. Prather
Thank you!
And the doubt never crossed my mind!
YAYYHH!!
On to the next assignment . . .
__________________
My SmugMug Gallery
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"If you've found a magic that does something for you, honey, stick to it. Never change it." - Mae West, to Edith Head.
"Every guy has to have one weakness - and it might as well be a good one." - Shell Scott: Dance With the Dead by Richard S. Prather
http://spbdesigns.com
http://gallery.spbdesigns.com
I look forward to coming back to this idea in the autumn. Some lovely photographs in this thread!
My SmugMug Galleries
I like the first one a lot!
In the future, please try to limit your entries to one picture (unless they are totally different). Being your own worst ctitique helps in many ways...
Will do. Thanks.
My SmugMug Galleries
Slightly overexposed, don't you think?
actually, sun was right behind, trying to get a flare but it was too soft in the evening. so it's not so much overexposure as the fact that the background is ...the sun.
hey, I tried.